Semua Bab TWO FATES, ONE THRONE.: Bab 31 - Bab 40

CHAPTER 31RAVEN’S POVWhen I woke, Mira let me know that the assessment had already begun.After last night encounter with Damien, it didn’t seem like we had a throne to fight each other for—although that still seemed to be the case.Last night, Damien showed a vulnerable side of himself, a side I knew I wouldn’t get to see often. It showed me that Damien was like any other human and was just raised to be the strong, hard monster his father was shaping him to be.I didn’t want him—or—the others to get hurt. According to what Mira said, they didn’t have to win; they just had to survive. And although I knew how impossible it seemed to want them not to win, because in every fight like this there was always someone that cared far more about winning than surviving.Mira had other things to do, so I was alone in my room and I used it as an opportunity to look through Nan’s journal.Joey,I had my doubts. I knew she wasn’t human or at least I knew she

CHAPTER 33RAVEN’S POV I woke up to the bright light that seeped into the room from the window.For a moment, where I was felt strange until I remembered the events of last night and felt Damien’s slow, steady heart against my ear.I looked up at him. He looked entirely peaceful, like he wasn’t hurt at all. My heart broke a little knowing that he had to go through that pain.I needed to leave. I didn’t want Mira knowing I didn’t return to the room last night.At this point, I couldn’t decipher whether I hated Damien or cared about him.I got out of bed as quietly as I could and left his room***When I got back to my room, Mira was already there cleaning. “Good morning Raven,” she said the minute she noticed i was in.“Good morning,” I replied.“How did you sleep,” she asked dryly.“Good.”“Hmmmmmm,” she said.“Just ask what you want to ask Mira, I can’t have this—it’s awkward,” I snapped.“So if I ask, would yo

CHAPTER 35RAVEN’S POVI grabbed the tray where I had placed the hot cream buns and made my way to Damien’s room. On getting there Vera immediately jumped onto the bed, while Rowan stood by the window, arms crossed. The atmosphere was off—tense. Damien looked upset… or angry. I couldn’t tell.“I don’t want it,” he said sharply.“Why?” I asked, concern tightening my chest.“I just don’t want it,” he replied, his tone clipped.The moment grew awkward, thick with unspoken tension, and I decided not to push.“She asked nicely,” Rowan said, his voice firm. “You could’ve at least answered her nicely too.”I couldn’t wrap my head around Damien’s behavior. Why was he acting like this? I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear it at first—until Vera gagged.Then she threw up.Damien shot to his feet instantly, instinctively moving to rush to her side, but the moment he shifted, he froze. A sharp pain tore through me, sudden and brutal, and f

CHAPTER 37RAVEN’S POVI spent the next five days drowning myself in books and self pity, wondering how Vera was, how Damien wss handling it, and whether he was holding himself together at all.I could feel every hurt and fear from him, like distant echoes pressing against my chest. Even when I tried to focus, when I forced myself to read line after line, his pain slipped through the bond and settled in me. It made breathing harder.The books in the library hadn’t said anything about Moonsworn healers. Not truly. It was as though the knowledge had been deliberately erased, scrubbed from history and hidden behind half-truths. Every reference was vague, incomplete, or ended abruptly, as if someone had decided that this was information no one was ever meant to fully understand.The only thing I could find were what Moonsworn healers were, and what they were capable of—and that was already information Orion and Rowan had already given me. Nothing new. Nothing u

CHAPTER 39RAVEN’S POVWhy?How could they?She was small. Just hungry.I couldn’t contain it. My heart so much. I should have found a way to feed her, even if it meant going back the next day to look for her.Even if it meant taking food from the palace kitchens myself.I shouldn’t have left.She was Taren sister. What was she doing in the slums?I was in my room. I had collapsed onto the floor, crying, shaking, it hurt everywhere. Everything hurt.How evil could these people be?They laughed. The assessment made them happy. Seeing someone from slum killed made them excited.I couldn’t lead a pack like this.What kind of pack let children starve while nobles sat in stone seats and clapped at their deaths?A pack that separated themselves according to how strong they were. A pack that decided who deserved to live based on power.I wasn’t even a strong wolf—did that mean that if they knew, I could be killed too.I couldn